The Golden and the Hunan Snub-nosed Monkeys

Endemic to China, Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, or scientifically known as Rhinopithecus roxellana, is one of the most beautiful and rare animals found in the world. These monkeys get their name from the short, stump of a nose on their round face, with nostrils arranged forward. They have relatively multicolored and long fur, particularly at the shoulders and backs. They grow to a length of 51 to 83 cm with a tail of 55 to 97 cm. Status: The Golden Monkey is listed endangered on the red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 2008. Currently, biologists identify three subspecies of this monkey: Moupin Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana roxellana), Qinling Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana qinlingensis), Hubei Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana hubeiensis). According to IUCN, there are about 16,000 individual golden snub-nosed monkeys in China. Geographic Distribution: Golden Snub-nosed Monkey can be found in Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi and Sichuan in west-central China. You may not know: The Chinese name of Golden Snub-nosed Monkey is Sichuan Golden Hair Monkey (川金丝猴). These monkeys can withstand colder average temperatures than any other non-human primates. Golden snub-nosed monkeys adjust their diet as the seasons change, but its main food source is lichens.       Golden Snub Nosed Monkey    Snub Nosed Monkey                                                              Kung Fu   Yunnan snub-nosed monkey's corpse found in Diqing for first time ...  en.kunming.cn       Snub-nosed monkey We took a number of strenuous trips in 2007-2009 to visit the habitat of wild Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. They live mostly around the Baima Snow mountains north-west of Shangri-la. We stopped such trip after we realized the negative impact we have created. Here are some of the rare photos of them living in the wild in early spring. The Black Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti), also known as the Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey, is an endangered species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is endemic to China, where it is known to the locals as the Yunnan Golden Hair Monkey and the Black Golden Hair Monkey .  It is threatened by habitat loss. The Black Snub-nosed Monkey is a large, stocky and well-furred primate belonging to the leaf-monkey Colobinae subfamily. Despite its morphological distinctiveness and noteworthy biology this is one of the lesser known primate species. In recent years, however, knowledge about the behavior and ecology of the Black Snub-nosed Monkey has grown.  Lack of information is mainly a result of difficult research conditions due to the monkey's semi-nomadic lifestyle, elusive nature and inhospitable habitat with extremely steep hillsides, impenetrable bamboo thickets, freezing winter climate with snow as well as damp and foggy summers with minimum visibility. This species has a highly restricted distribution in the biodiversity hotspot of the Hengduan Mountains which borders the Himalaya range. The actual distribution range is limited to the Yun Ridge (云岭) portion of the Hengduan Mountains. Only 17 groups with a total population of less than 1,700 animals have survived in northwest Yunnan and neighboring regions in the Autonomous Prefecture of Tibet. The Black Snub-nosed Monkey lives in one of the most extreme environments of any nonhuman primate. Its habitat is either pure temperate coniferous forest or deciduous/evergreen broadleaf and coniferous forest. The highest recorded altitude of a group of this species is 4700 m* * most of the information that are provided here are from BBC Nature.                    SEE MORE: LINK: http://songtsam.smugmug.com/Yunnan-1/Wildlife/Wild-Yunnan-Snub-nosed-monkey/12436440_VbtDKn/720440956_fjNRWJQ#!i=720440956&k=fjNRWJQ  Links:   http://www.chinazhangjiajietour.com/plus/view.php?aid=2603 www.arkive.org www.discoverwildlife.com travel.mongabay.com